New CEO
Alycia Marshall, who has served as interim president at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) since May, is now the college’s permanent president. She previously was CCP’s provost and vice president for academic and student success.
“After a nationwide search, it has become evident that Dr. Marshall demonstrates the clear vision and outstanding leadership needed to guide our institution forward,” CCP board chair Harold T. Epps said in a release.
Marshall began her career in higher education at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland, where she served for nearly 23 years before coming to CCP in 2022. At Anne Arundel, Marshall was a math professor, chair of the math department and later associate vice president for learning and academic affairs. She was the principal investigator and founder of the college’s Engineering Scholars Program, a National Science Foundation grant-funded program that provides scholarships, mentoring and support services to underrepresented students in STEM.
Appointment
Mordecai Brownlee, president of the Community College of Aurora (CCA) in Colorado, has been appointed to the board of directors for Education Design Lab, which focuses on designing, scaling and credentialing next-generation workforce solutions. CCA joined the Lab’s Community College Growth Engine in 2022.
“At this pivotal moment in our nation’s economy, the Lab’s mission resonates profoundly with me: linking innovation, industry demand, and upward economic mobility to create new pathways for America’s learners,” Brownlee said in a social media post. “Through this work, I look forward to contributing to the future of workforce credentialing, micro-pathways, and creating equitable opportunities for communities across the country.”
Kudos
John Rainone, president of Mountain Gateway Community College in Virginia, has recertified as a Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE). To maintain certification status, recipients must demonstrate ongoing professional practice, continued fundraising results and commitment to lifelong learning. CFRE certification is awarded for a three-year period. Rainone is one of more than 8,200 fundraising professionals worldwide who hold the CFRE designation, which he has maintained since 2007.
Retirement announcement
Daniel Corr, who has served as the ninth president of Arizona Western College (AWC) since 2016, has announced his plans to retire in July 2026.
Over the past decade, Corr has transformed AWC by expanding access, championing first-generation students and strengthening communities across the college district. He has focused his efforts on facilitating student success, increasing access to higher education, creating two comprehensive strategic plans and fostering a climate of innovation, collaboration and stewardship at AWC. Under his leadership, AWC has led the state in enrollment growth, transfer growth to in-state universities, and a 1,026% full-time student equivalent growth in early college enrollment, according to AWC.
Corr has led AWC’s expanding partnerships which have boosted external funding through grants, fundraising and a first-ever state appropriation of $15 million in 2024. He also has overseen a wide range of capital improvements across the district, including the new Matador Activity Center, AWC Transfer Center, Law Enforcement Training Academy, the new DeAnza Residence Hall and the upcoming Health Careers Center, in partnership with Onvida.
Corr is also known as a leader of workforce and economic development efforts in Arizona. Last year, he was invited to the White House for a stakeholders discussion about expanding investments in students and workers that lead to good jobs in high-demand sectors, such as clean energy, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing and semiconductors.
In 2017, Gov. Doug Ducey appointed Corr to serve on the Arizona State Board of Education. Nationally, Corr has served as an American Association of Community Colleges commissioner and a Higher Learning Commission peer reviewer.
Prior to AWC, Corr was vice president of academic and student affairs at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona from 2007 to 2016. Previously, he held a variety of instructional and administrative positions at three different community colleges in Illinois.
